Thank you for taking the time to find out more about Carousel and our brand ‘Circus’.
After the last recession it became clear that going to trade shows across Europe and sourcing/curating lines from different brands was not a sustainable business model. With the rise in rents and general cost of doing business I had to step back and take a fresh look at my retail business. Fashion and retail are all I had known since working in Selfridges in the late 80s (makes me giggle when that period is now considered vintage), so a career change was not an option.
“I had to step back and take a fresh look at my retail business”
I did not know at that point that I would eventually have my own clothing brand with agents across Europe selling into indie clothes shops like mine.
I travelled to Thailand and Korea in the early days of developing Circus (2012) sourcing new lines and meeting some extraordinary people. Mostly women running thriving business that took time out to help me get off the ground. I met Kate Chang from Seoul when she was on a holiday in Dublin. She ended up being my agent and translator in Seoul. My many trips to Seoul would not have been possible without her amazing help.
Araya from Fame Fashions in Thailand was also instrumental in helping me export and source new lines in Bangkok. After several years of travelling back and forth to Thailand I realised that it would not be possible to create a brand of my own in Thailand as the logistics did not make sense.
Following an introduction from a colleague at a trade fair in the UK I was introduced to Udayan Kapur. Udayan ran a small family-owned clothing manufacturing business in New Delhi – Good Earth India. Even though Udayan was 25 years my junior we got on from the beginning.
After several trips to Delhi we decided to start a brand together and Circus became a reality. Although I was creative, I had never designed a clothing range. But I began designing lines for Carousel. This was relatively easy as I knew exactly what I wanted in my shop.
The most difficult part was learning to design a range of clothing that appealed to many shops and customers across Europe, and repeat that every season whilst keeping our identity and still appealing to a broad enough customer base to grow. We are still on that journey but really enjoying the learning process.
“Many people have helped me over the years without any benefit to themselves”
I have tried to live by the motto “what goes around comes around”. Many people have helped me over the years without any benefit to themselves. Seeing someone grow and develop is an extremely rewarding experience especially if you have had even a small hand in it.
Carousel and Circus have always taken the more difficult decisions but more rewarding ones since the first day we opened our doors back in 1993. Long before it was ethical or sustainable or the informed thing to do. We will always go about our business doing what we believe is for the greater good and morally correct decision. In the early days this was a personal choice.
Society now demands that the values of a company be authenticated by relevant certification. Whilst this is understandable it is sad that instead of assuming a business does the right thing where possible, it seems to be the exception and not the rule. Hence the need to be more formal about our values, ethics, morality and respect for our employees, customers, and associates.
We needed to make bigger changes to ensure all of our activities were more sustainable… This was much harder than we had anticipated
18 months ago I attended a talk on sustainability hosted by “Thinkhouse”. As a result of this talk I realised that we needed to make bigger changes to ensure all of our activities were more sustainable. This was much harder than we had anticipated. We have finally reached a point where we are happy with all elements of our production.
We registered with EcoVero™, a sustainable alternative to viscose. This took some time before we became certified as a registered brand. We are delighted to be a part of the EcoVero™ family now. We have started working with the “Better Cotton Initiave” (BCI), which supports farmers to grow cotton more sustainably. Our factory has also just recently been certified by the “Global Organic Trading Standard” (GOTS) and we’ll be offering more styles made from Organic and BCI Cotton.
“We will continue to build positively on our values for as long as we are lucky enough to be in business”
I have learned that the only thing you truly own is your reputation. This is something that is earned over time. It cannot be created by a marketing company but only by your actions over a sustained period of time. We at Carousel have always taken the best, fairest and morally correct decision based on what we thought at a point in time. We thank everybody who has been on that journey with us over the years. And we will continue to build positively on our values for as long as we are lucky enough to be in business.
Thank you for your support,
Tom.
